Articles of manufacture such as vehicles and the like are commonly marked during the manufacturing process with identifying indicia such as serial numbers and vehicle identification numbers (VIN). The identifying indicia may provide information about the article of manufacture such as the date of manufacture and the like and assist with tracking the articles of manufacture throughout their useful life. For example, the identifying indicia are useful for tracking inventory, recovering stolen items, identifying the location of manufacture, etc. However, such identification is integral with the article of manufacture, and thus, require the article of manufacture to be accessible to utilize the identifying indicia.
Accordingly, a need exists for alternative methods for identifying an article of manufacture.